Bozeman Struggles With Housing, While UM Struggles With Enrollment

While the University of Montana struggles with declining enrollment, Montana State University Enrollment appears to be booming, so much so that Bozeman Mayor Carson Taylor says the University system and the city need to talk about issues related to housing.

"A question was asked about the increasing enrollment at MSU and my response was 'yeah, it's putting pressure on the city to create housing because they're not creating housing on campus as fast as they are increasing students that are moving to Bozeman and needing a place to live,"" Taylor said.

During a recent forum, Mayor Taylor made some recommendations about MSU’s growth, which have not gone over well with the University System, but he says his main point is that the era of Silo government is over and that different governing bodies need to collaborate.

"I was asked and I said one idea was that they don't grow any faster than housing can be produced for the students, and the headline became something like Mayor Thinks MSU Should Cap Its Enrollment," Taylor said. "I have called up and tried to make an appointment with Dr. Cruzado and I expect that I will talk with her in the next week or two."

Both Missoula and Bozeman face housing issues, but the enrollment picture is almost the opposite of that at MSU. At the University of Montana enrollment has been falling for about five years, dropping by more than 17 percent, that’s over 2,600 students in that span of time.